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The Woman Before Me, Ruth Dugdall28/08/2016 - 4:22pmSometime ago, a local author who worked in the local justice system, albeit in a different capacity to this author, wrote a debut novel which, at the time, read a lot like a spot of personal therapy. THE WOMAN BEFORE ME has a little of that feeling about it, but more importantly, and not just because it is inspired by a true event, it's a memorable and thought-provoking book into the bargain. The blurb gives you the basics of the story. A baby has died, and there is only one suspect - a woman who befriended the dead child's mother in hospital, a woman whose own baby boy ... Read Review |
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The Liberator's Birthday, Jill Blee27/08/2016 - 3:20pmWe read this for our f2f bookclub which had the added interest of our being only an hour out of Ballarat - although few of the members of the club come from this area or have much direct knowledge of the Goldfield time in that town. Generally the consensus was a reasonably good book which gave an interesting perspective of one day in the life of a young man whose parents own a pub. An Irish Catholic family, the day in history has great significance. Not enough significance to change the day to day life of the running of the pub for everyone though. Slightly ... Read Review |
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The Woman in Cabin 10, Ruth Ware27/08/2016 - 12:06pmIt feels like such a relief to have a woman in Cabin 10, and not a girl, that you'd almost be forgiven for cutting THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 a lot of slack. Along with all the "girls" around there's also been a propensity for unlikeable protagonists, some of whom are unreliable - unknowingly or deliberately. Needless to say Lo Blacklock in THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 is flawed, unsympathetic and seemingly highly unreliable. Or it could just be that she's a stressed out woman with a drinking problem and a long term requirement for anxiety and depression medication, without which unpredictable ... Read Review |
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Lethal in Love 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6, Michelle Somers26/08/2016 - 4:17pmSet in Australia, but with a decidedly American feel to it, LETHAL IN LOVE is a serialised novel in six parts. Fascinating idea and one that I've always wondered why somebody hasn't done. Released over a period of time, each episode is probably best described as a long novella in length, each advancing the suspense and the romantic side of the story. Although to a reader somewhat disconnected from the world of romantic suspense, I will confess the "romance" aspects read substantially more like "lust" for most of the novel. (Having read all six episodes back to back, I'm going to have ... Read Review |
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Forbidden Fruit, Ilsa Evans26/08/2016 - 1:48pmIt will not come as any surprise to readers of the Nell Forrest series that she's found another body. In a small town like Majic there's an astonishingly high murder rate, even though this unfortunate victim seems to have been in Forrest's backyard for a very long time. About the time that her estranged father disappeared in fact – make of that coincidence what you will. Goodness knows Forrest's going to. If there is such a thing as a preferable time to find a skeleton buried in your backyard, now is definitely not it for Forrest. She's finally moved into her new home (she' ... Read Review |
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The Death of Dalziel, Reginald Hill25/08/2016 - 1:37pmTwo mutton pasties, an almond slice and a custard tart are not the normal order that a superior officer would give to a subordinate faced with a possible armed siege. But then, Andy Dalziel's never been one for all that official mucking about and Hector's never been one that anybody really believes. Number 3 Mill Street, an Asian and Arab specialist Video store, is an address flagged for low level interest by the Combined Anti-Terrorism Unit. Inspector Ireland's not convinced that Dalziel is taking this seriously enough. Inevitably he has to ring Peter Pascoe to tell him about this ... Read Review |
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Ghostlines, Nick Gadd25/08/2016 - 1:35pmGHOSTLINES won the 2007 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript, before being published by Scribe in 2008. It's the author's first novel, the tale of a profoundly flawed hero - journalist Philip Trudeau, a very driven man. Unfortunately a lot of that drive is self-destructive, but in Gadd's hands, Trudeau is a character who can engender sympathy and maintain the reader's interest and concern - despite those myriad and very obvious faults. When a young boy is killed at a level crossing, Trudeau reports it initially as a tragic accident. He finds, ... Read Review |
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Between Summer's Longing and Winter's Cold, Leif G.W. Persson25/08/2016 - 12:22pmAs Leif G.W. Persson is a new author for me, I was interested to read the bio in this book: "Leif Persson is the Grand Master of Scandinavian crime fiction. Over three decades, he has taken a scalpel to the political and social mores of Swedish society in dark, complex and satirical crime novels. His work melds the social realism of a Balzac or a Dickens with the hard-boiled street smarts of a James Ellroy." Whatever that means..... More importantly, the blurb eventually goes on to note that he is the author of nine novels, with BETWEEN SUMMER'S LONGING and ... Read Review |
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Death in the Truffle Wood, Pierre Magnan24/08/2016 - 4:55pmI used to read a few cosies, although I was never totally addicted. But I've always been a huge fan of the quirky, odd and the just ever so slightly bats. Colin Watson, Charlotte MacLeod have been favourites for years. I'm adding Pierre Magnan to the list now. Originally published in French in the late 70's, DEATH IN THE TRUFFLE WOOD was translated into English around 2005. There are a number of books in this series featuring Commissaire Laviolette, although I don't think Roseline makes an appearance in any of the others. Roseline is a truffle hunting pig, and a creature ... Read Review |
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Old City Hall, Robert Rotenberg24/08/2016 - 3:42pmDespite a rather shaky start in the legal profession, Robert Rotenberg's background in criminal law explains the perspective of his first novel OLD CITY HALL, most of the the book is being told from either the defence or the prosecution viewpoints. OLD CITY HALL starts off in a decidedly disarming manner, with polite, proper and very Indian Mr Singh going about his daily job of distributing newspapers which always involves a chat with Mr Kevin in Suite 12A. On this particular morning the door is open as usual, but there is no sign of Kevin Brace. When he eventually appears ... Read Review |
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The Caller, Karin Fossum23/08/2016 - 4:53pmOne of the most exciting things about a new book from Karin Fossum is exactly where she's going to take the reader this time. The scenarios, the crimes, the individuals that Fossum incorporates in her books are always very thought provoking, and THE CALLER was certainly no different. From the moment that a young child is found in her pram, in the backyard of her parent's home, bathed in blood; through the mysterious delivery of a message to Inspector Sejer's door; into the story of Johnny and his drunken, irresponsible mother and the touching relationship he has with his ... Read Review |
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Certain Admissions, Gideon Haigh23/08/2016 - 2:33pmIn a leadup event to the 2016 Bendigo Writers Festival, Gideon Haigh came to Dunolly for a discussion with Rosemary Sorensen about CERTAIN ADMISSIONS. A true crime book that I'd been aware of for quite a while, this was the prefect opportunity to sit in the wonderful surrounds of the restored Court House, with a glass of wine and listen to a fascinating session about a case that I'd never heard of before this book. The research, including the employment of genealogists to investigate family trees and backgrounds, and the thought that has gone into this book is clear on ... Read Review |
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The Alo Release, Geoffrey Robert19/08/2016 - 3:04pmThere are a lot of thrillers these days using environmental issues as the potential threat to the world. It makes a lot of sense that screwing with the balance of nature has some interesting potential when it comes to the villain of the piece as it could be anybody, and the motive is nearly always a power / money grab which is extremely believable. THE ALO RELEASE tackles the question of genetically modified seeds. Combining as it does technology that is difficult to understand, high stakes corruption and media manipulation, with people behaving very badly, it's the sort ... Read Review |
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The Dry, Jane Harper18/08/2016 - 5:34pmThere is a very good reason for all the buzz around about The Dry, another great debut thriller from an Australian writer. Review at Newtown Review of BooksRead Review |
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The Rules of Backyard Cricket, Jock Serong18/08/2016 - 3:57pmWhen Jock Serong's debut novel QUOTA was released it was the first crime fiction book I could recall using over-permit limit Abalone catches as a central theme. The incorporation of crime and cricket therefore shouldn't have come as that much of a surprise in his second novel, THE RULES OF BACKYARD CRICKET. If both of these books are anything to go by, this is an author with a keen eye for an unusual but extremely workable scenario. The depiction of cricket, from the Keefe brother's backyard contests, through to their District, State and ultimately Australian ... Read Review |
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Dead Men Don't Order Flake, Sue Williams17/08/2016 - 1:49pmCass Tuplin has returned in second book DEAD MEN DON'T ORDER FLAKE. Proprietor of the recently rebuilt Rusty Bore Takeway, she's a fish, chip and dim sim dispenser extraordinaire with a sideline in private enquiries. Which means she's one of those slightly nosy women who can find out stuff, despite objections from her eldest son, and local Senior Constable, Dean. Her propensity to dig until dirt moves out of the way is part of the reason why a local father, Gary Kellett, asks her to look further into the death of his only daughter. Natalie was a journalist in the "big town up the road ... Read Review |
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Man in the Corner, Nathan Besser17/08/2016 - 1:48pmA lot of things happen to normal, everyday father, husband and businessman David in a big hurry. His wife confesses to a secret past which he can almost handle and then he collapses with a rare brain disorder requiring urgent surgery, forcing him into a period of recuperation. This leads to some rash business decisions and a chance meeting with a total stranger. From that meeting, David is led into a weird world of identity-theft and criminal behaviour, the likes of which you'd expect any sane, rational, normal person would run away from. But so much about MAN IN THE CORNER is off- ... Read Review |
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Mima, Shirley Eldridge16/08/2016 - 2:43pmMIMA is a profoundly personal recounting of the death of a friend. A case that went neglected for many years until the author, Shirley Eldridge, 40 years later, turned amongst other sources, to a private investigator for help in trying to reveal who killed Mima McKim-Hill. MIMA is the sort of true crime book that is going to work for those readers who feel a particular connection with Shirley Eldridge, who appreciate the brutal honesty of her voice and viewpoint in telling this story. Others might find that the palpable personal connection is less successful, overriding ... Read Review |
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Bloody Relations, John Kerr13/08/2016 - 3:45pmThere are quite a lot of collections of true crime stories floating around, and more than one that uses the theme of murder in the family as it's connecting fibre. BLOODY RELATIONS, however, touches on a number of family murders that are less well known - as well as some of the better known cases in Australia. Starting off with the startling case of the death of Maureen - wife of Dr Rory Thompson in Hobart in 1983, the book then heads to a more well known case in the death of Jennifer Tanner at Bonnie Doon in 1984. Next up the death of Chris Hatfield in 1985, asleep on his ... Read Review |
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The Spare Room, Helen Garner13/08/2016 - 12:56pmRead this book for our f2f bookclub meeting, and I've got to say it was a real surprise. Extremely interesting and confronting message, delivered in a very readable fashion, although you do have to think that Helen might have been a little hard on herself.Read Review |